Too Late to say I'm Sorry
by Ranger of the Valley
Summary: I had a dream, so I wrote it down, and my friend and I have been working on it. Summary: Ryan and Lily are out to stop the forces that are destroying their planet. With the help of three friends and five tokens, they can do it. But only at a great cost.
1. Lily Hayes

**AN: Okay, I had a dream, and this is it! My friend and I hve ben working on it and plan to make it into a story, so here's the first chapter. I wanted to see what everyone else thinks about it, so I posted it on here. Remember to review, just put a 'y' if you liked it, or an 'n' if you didn't! Takes all of two seconds!  
**

Chapter One: Lily

I sighed as I walked into English class. Another day, another week, another year - what was the difference?

According to my standards, my life was excruciatingly boring. Except for my horse, Starsky, and my grey tabby cat, Tasha, of course. My daily routine was something like this: wake up, go to school, go home, and sleep. I fed my equine and feline friends, too, but I actually liked that part of the day. I would do anything for a change.

I looked around as I sat down for my one human friend, Brooke. I found her and quickly walked over. "Hey, Lily, how was your summer?" she questioned me.

Hey, Brooke. Boring, as always," I replied in a monotone.

You say that every year," she laughed, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

I walked back over to my desk and sat down in the ugly blue chair. As I was taking out my folder, the guy sitting next to me tripped over my chair's leg and missed the football that his friend had thrown to him from across the room. He couldn't catch it because he was too busy tripping, so it ended up hitting me in the head. I glared daggers at his friend who burst out laughing. I picked up the football and threw it with more force than I thought was physically possible. It hit him in the head._What goes around comes around, _I thought as I turned back around.

I frowned as I took out a piece of paper and waited for my teacher, Ms. Howe, to start droning on about her two-period-long-expectation-speech, about how we weren't Sophomores any more, we were Juniors, so we'd better start acting like it. On and on and on like that.

On my piece of paper, I started sketching. I drew a picture of a band of horses, grazing mares, playful foals, and an alert stallion. They were standing on an open plane with a lone mountain in the distance. I shaded it in and started to put it away, when I felt like someone was watching me. I looked up to find a pair of dark brown eyes curiously studying the paper in my hands. I looked at it and decided that I had drawn better in the past, so I just handed him the picture and mouthed "keep it" to him.

"Mister Hart and Miss Hayes, is there something that you would like to share with the rest of us," Ms. Howe questioned.

"No, Ms. Howe, we're done," I quickly replied, eyeing Ryan warily.

She returned to her lecture, ignoring us the rest of the period. I thought of how this Saturday was our town's annual horseback riding competition, and this year, Starsky and I were going for the gold. I was re-memorizing the patterns in my head. I looked up at the clock and realized that this class was about to end. I was packing up my things when the secretary made an announcement over the intercom.

"Welcome back, Golden West Trailblazers," the fake sounding voice on the intercom started. Today we will announce the varsity football team." At this, everyone in the class hushed, save two girls in the back who were having a whispered conversation. "The team will be made consist of Adam Hurst, Oliver McCall, Cody Riggs, Jeremy O'Shea, Garrett Richards, Brett Smith, Ryan Hart-"

I could no longer hear the secretary's voice because the classroom erupted in cheers. I looked next to me and saw that Ryan had stood up and was doing a small victory dance in his seat. Of course, he was the star quarterback on the team. The cheering went on for another minute or two, and we all quieted down to hear the last couple of names on the football roster, "-and Kyle Williamson makes up the varsity team. All members please report to Coach Greene during your break. Go Trailblazers!" she concluded just as the bell rang.

I sauntered over to Brooke and we walked together to Trigonometry. She was babbling at light speed about how she thought that she caught this one cute boy(she thought that his name was Aiden) in our class staring at her during that announcement and how it was so cool that I got to sit next to the most popular guy in school and how exciting this school year was going to be. All I had to do was nod my head in the correct places to convince her that I was paying attention, when my mind was really elsewhere. I was thinking about the upcoming competition, again.

When we entered the classroom, our teacher, Mr. Hughes, already had a seating chart for us. How nice of him. Naturally, Brooke was on the other side of the room from me, with four rows of people between us.

I sat down and prepared for another boring period. I took out my sketch book and started drawing an new picture. I didn't get much done because Mr. Hughes was actually starting to teach us, but I didn't really pay any attention. I drew, and as I was analyzing it as I finished, I wasn't quite sure what it was.

There was a silvery image at the top of the page, something foreign, and trees beneath it. A girl surrounded by three others was looking up at the object, and the other three just stared at the girl. Another shadow of a boy was somewhere in the bottom corner, but I was unsure of what he was doing. I just stared at it, unmoving. This picture disturbed me, and I wasn't sure why. The bell woke me up from my trance.

I walked out of the Trig room, parted with Brooke, who was headed of to French, and went to the Study Hall, since my break period was next. I spent it in silence, munching on a granola bar and studying the math notes that I had somehow managed to take. I sat like that for forty-five long, slow minutes.

I stalked off to US History once the bell rang, trying to make pictures out of the clouds as I walked. I ambled into the classroom, where I was met by a smiling face, Mrs. Edwards. She told me that I could sit wherever I pleased, so I chose a random seat in the back of the room. Another girl sat beside me, and my other side remained unoccupied. The girl next to me smiled at me tentatively and stuck her hand out.

"Hi, I'm Chelsea Evans," she told me in a quiet voice.

I accepted her hand and replied, "I'm Lily Hayes." she smiled back at me.

"Ok, class, welcome back to Golden West High," she started. "Today, I'm going to have you guys come up here," she pointed to her desk at the front of the room, "and tell a few facts about yourself. I'll give you guys a few minutes to think about what you're going to say." Mrs. Edwards then set the timer on her desk for five minutes and walked around, trying to memorize our names.

I took out the picture that I'd done in Trig and studied it. I already knew what I was going to say; my name was Lily Hayes, I owned a horse and a cat, and I was an only child. I looked at my creation, I looked and studied it, and I still couldn't figure out what it was. I continued to stare at it, and I could feel Chelsea's questioning eyes on me as my eyes skimmed the paper. Thankfully, she was tactful enough not to say anything.

"Ok, now, who would like to go first," our teacher asked us just as the timer went off. Of course, no one volunteered. She selected a girl in the second row to go up and introduce herself first. She reluctantly shuffled up to the front of the room and cleared her throat.

"Hi. I'm Kachiri Afton. Um, I was born in the Amazon, and I moved here when I was eleven," she stated in a quiet voice. She had long, dark hair and elongated features.

"Thank you, Kachiri. Michael, would you like to go next?" Mrs. Edwards asked.

"Sure," Michael grunted as he walked to the front of the room. "I'm Michael Pace, and . . ." I really didn't care anymore, so I continued to study my strange drawing. I still couldn't figure it out. It was so frustrating!

I was interrupted from my daydreams by a sharp jab to my ribs. "Lily, you're up to bat," Chelsea hissed in my ear. I immediately noticed that everybody was staring at me. I got up and rushed to the front of the classroom, a blush spreading across my face.

"Um, hi," I said, but it sounded more like a question, "I'm Lily Hayes and I'm an only child. I also own a cat and a horse," I finished. I walked back to my and sighed as the bell rang. I walked to the cafeteria and bought a bag of Cheetos. I sat down on the edge of an empty table and started munching on my cheesy chips. I started thinking about how nice a change would be. My parents and I could move to a different town, or maybe I could get a transfer to a different school district? Not likely. I must've sat there longer than I thought because when I looked at the clock, the bell had already rung, and the tardy bell was about to ring. I dumped the rest of my Cheetos in the garbage and sprinted to Spanish.

I walked into the classroom and greeted my Spanish teacher, Mr. Garcia. "Buenos tardes, profesor Garcia."

"Es agradable de volver a por otro año conmigo, Lily," he replied.

I quickly took my seat and waited for class to start. Spanish Was the one class that I actually sort of enjoyed.

"Hola, la clase, la bien venida de vuelta. Por favor, comience por sacar libros de texto," Mr. Garcia instructed.

I felt smug as I watched other people, who had the word 'confusion' stamped on their faces. They'd obviously forgotten over the summer, while I hadn't. I did as Mr. Garcia told us to do and took out my textbook. The rest of the period went by too fast and then it was time to go home.

I walked out into the student parking lot and got into my navy blue Chevy Avalanche. I revved the engine loudly as I got in, making a couple of Barbie dolls hanging out by my tailgate scream, before throwing it into reverse and speeding home.

I pulled up into my driveway and parked in the garage. I grabbed my schoolbag and locked my truck up. I then walked into the kitchen, grabbed a Pop-tart, and headed for my room. I booted up my computer to check my e-mails, since none of my teachers had assigned any homework.

While I was waiting for my computer to warm up, I lied down on my bed. The first day of school had been exhausting, and I quickly fell asleep.

* * *

The rest of the week went by slowly. We were given a list of books to read throughout the year in English. I had to memorize new Spanish terms and important dates in History. I already had an A+ in every class. I was also pretty excited because the annual horseback riding competition was that weekend, and I was going to ride in it that year.

Then, on Friday, during third period, everything changed.

"Ryan Hart and Lily Hayes, please report to the principal's office," the secretary announced over the intercom with a shaky voice. It almost sounded as if she had been crying. Huh.

I gathered up my things and headed out of the Trigonometry room. I looked at Mr. Hughes to make sure that he knew that I was leaving. He gave a slight nod in approval, and I strode out the door.

While on my way to the principal's office, I thought about my week, trying to figure out what I had done wrong to get me into the principal's office. Maybe, I was too smart for the rest of my class and being bumped up a grade. Or down. That would be a change. But why was Ryan Hart, the school' s star football player, being called up with me? Maybe, there were rumors going around that he was going to beat me up. That, too, would be a change. I really didn't care, as long as some sort of change was involved, bad or good. I would be happy, because life was too slow for me.

I opened the heavy metal door to the office and sat down in one of the cold, had, metal foldable chairs and looked to Mr. Everdeen to start talking.

"let's wait for Ryan be fore I start explaining things, Lily," he said. His eyes looked kind of red and puffy, as if he'd been crying, like the secretary. Jeez, what was with these people? Why was everyone so emotional all of a sudden?

I was about to ask Mr. Everdeen, when Ryan walked in. The principal gave a tremendous sigh and started talking.

"Ryan, Lily, both of your lives are about to change," he said while pulling out a laptop from a desk drawer. My heart started beating faster. He pressed a button and turned it around so we could watch a movie that was playing on the screen. My heart started pounding against my chest as the screen showed what I assumed was a picture of the universe. What exactly _was _this huge change that he had mentioned?

Suddenly, a voice started speaking.

"Ryan hart and Lily Hayes, we have chosen you," it said in a soft voice. It was a voice that you knew from somewhere, but you couldn't remember who it belonged to, no matter how hard you tried. "You have been chosen because you are two of the five most talented adolescents on the planet, both physically and mentally. The other three are waiting for you at the capitol of your country. Please join them immediately for further instruction," the stranger concluded.

Ryan and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Mr. Everdeen, I'm sorry, but do you honestly expect us to believe that?" Ryan chuckled.

"This is serious! Extraterrestrial forces of some kind are planning to destroy Earth, unless we do what they say!" Mr. Everdeen exclaimed, pounding his fist on the desk, toppling his pen holder over. All of its contents spilled onto the floor, but nobody noticed. We immediately sobered up at his enraged expression.

"You two are going to the Capitol first thing in the morning." We straightened up at this new fact. I could have jumped for joy - a change, at last! - but I caught a glimpse of Ryan's face. "Tomorrow? We won't even have time to say goodbye!" he yelled.

"Sure you do, you have all of today, tonight, and very early tomorrow morning," the principal corrected him.

I was thrilled. I was going on an adventure, and all that I had hoped for was a mere change! I couldn't have been happier.

While I checked into Cloud 9, Ryan and the principal were still arguing away. "What about the team? They need a quarterback, and that's me!" Ryan was standing up and shouting now. I looked to Mr. Everdeen and found that his expression mirrored Ryan's. It was hard not to laugh. I was smiling so hard that I thought my entire face might fall off.

"What are you smiling about?" Ryan screeched at me.

"Well . . ." I said, dragging the word out, "it's all just so great! I mean, all my life, all I've ever wanted was a change, and now I get to have a great, giant, life-changing experience!" I exclaimed in a moment of hysteria.

Ryan gave me a terrifying glare and stormed out of the room.

I didn't care.

My life was finally changing.


	2. Ryan Hart

**AN: I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but this chapter is only to give some insight on what Ryan thinks. And this is from Ryan's POV, if you didn't figure that out. Remember, reviews make my world go 'round! Thank you, Regina, my muse/co-author!**

Chapter Two: Ryan

I couldn't believe it.

One minute, life is as good as it gets - you're made the star football player, you have excellent grades, you have a whole bunch of friends - and the next, it's all ripped out of your hands. I was having a great life, everything that I'd ever wanted, all laid out for me, and I had to go an some NASA project or whatever. Until then, my life was pretty much perfect.

Then they were taking it all back, everything that I had loved - gone. Everything would be new, different, foreign, except Lily, and we'd really only talked once, when she gave me that picture of the horses. That I still had. I couldn't throw it away - it was too beautiful.

We were on our way to Washington DC, the capitol. The five-hour long flight was going to be very slow.

I looked across the isle of seats and really took a good look at Lily for the first time. She had long, dark hair -almost black- that went to the middle of her back and olive-toned skin. Her eyes were a dark brown, and had a depth to them. She had full, perfect lips.

She looked up at me, and I quickly looked down, ashamed. She looked back down at her book and continued reading, a smile playing at her lips.

How she could be happy, I didn't know. Wasn't she mad that her whole life had been taken away from her? No, she wasn't, she wasn't even upset, not the smallest bit; in fact, she was _glad_ that they were taking it away.

I, on the other hand, was infuriated. Did they want to ruin my life? To take everything that I had enjoyed away?

I sat there, mourning, for the remainder of the ride. It got dark fast, because we were flying away from the sun, plus all of the time-zone crossings. I stared out at the bright city, lit by the millions upon millions of lights. The anger inside me grew. All of those people - normal ones that weren't chosen to go on some crazy mission - went on with their happy lives.

I looked over at Lily, and she had the biggest smile on her face that I'd ever seen.

She was happy with this new change.

I wasn't.


End file.
